GPS plan for buses entering Delhi
Days after a teenage girl was gang-raped on a moving bus in Noida, the Delhi Government plans to adopt a GPS to monitor buses entering the national Capital from neighbouring States in real-time and facilitate swift action in emergencies.
Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the city Government plans to link the GPS systems of buses entering Delhi from neighbouring States with the relevant Delhi government department’s system. The chief minister also ordered the sealing of a private daycare and playschool in Jafrabad following allegations of physical and sexual abuse of a three-year-old child. The Chief Minister warned that school managements found negligent in cases involving children’s safety would be held accountable alongside those directly responsible.
The Chief Minister’s remarks come amid separate ongoing police investigations into the Jafrabad daycare case, the Bawana school assault case, and the interstate bus rape case involving the minor from Uttar Pradesh, all of which have drawn public attention to gaps in child safety oversight across schools, daycare centres and transport services operating in and around Delhi.
The chief minister said that inhumane treatment of young schoolchildren was deeply distressing for any civilised society and that her government would not stay silent on such matters. She directed officials to ensure immediate action wherever children’s safety was compromised and to pursue strict legal action against those found responsible.
On the Jafrabad case, the Chief Minister said the law was already taking its course, but added that the government would not remain a mute spectator. She said the Delhi government would extend legal assistance to the child’s family if required. The Chief Minister also addressed the alleged sexual assault of a three-year-old nursery student by a school bus driver in Bawana, expressing strong displeasure over the staff member’s alleged involvement and questioning the school management’s accountability in the matter.
The Chief Minister said school managements were responsible for ensuring proper verification and continuous monitoring of bus staff involved in transporting children. She warned that if any school bus staff member was found involved in a similar incident in the future, responsibility would extend to the school management as well. She said the government intended to ensure that safety responsibilities laid down for schools, daycare centres and school transport systems were fully followed, with strict action against anyone found negligent.
The Chief Minister further expressed grief over the rape of a 16-year-old girl from Uttar Pradesh, allegedly assaulted inside a moving bus in the Delhi-NCR region. She raised concern over the alleged role of the bus driver and conductor involved, saying such incidents shook the conscience of civilised society.
To address safety gaps in interstate bus travel, the Chief Minister said the Delhi government would hold discussions with neighbouring state governments to strengthen safety measures for women and children travelling to and from the capital by bus.
She said the Government planned to develop a system linking the GPS systems of buses entering Delhi from other states with the tracking system used by the relevant Delhi government department. This, she said, would allow authorities to monitor the location of such buses and access other necessary information, enabling swifter action during emergencies.
The Chief Minister said parents placed their deepest trust in schools when sending their children there each day, and that this trust could not be allowed to break down at any level. She reiterated that accountability for lapses in children’s safety would not stop at the individual accused, and would extend to school managements and other responsible parties found negligent.
